VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
SNAP - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [Chicago IL]
September 26, 2025
Today, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to head the Dicastery for Bishops.
Peter Isely, SNAP’s Global Advocacy Chair said:
“Iannone’s promotion sends a chilling message to abuse victims around the world, not only to expect advancement toward zero tolerance to be blocked, but a rollback on the hard-fought progress of clergy abuse survivors and advocates over the years. It was Iannone who shaped the church law on sexual abuse to guarantee that zero tolerance for abusers, and accountability for the bishops who covered it up, would never be included. Leo is putting the oversight and management of bishops in the hands of a man who has fought to enshrine the concealment of abusers in Vatican policy.”
This announcement comes just one week after Leo used his first public interview to redirect the conversation on abuse to “false accusations” and “priests’ rights” after throwing cold water on any hope for a zero tolerance law that would permanently remove abusers from ministry and institute a mechanism by which bishops could be held responsible for facilitating and concealing abuse.
As head of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Iannone took significant actions to stop progress toward zero tolerance:
- He “updated” descriptions of criminal abuse in church law to ensure priests could not be subjected to a mandatory zero tolerance law for sexual abuse. Such a law would require the permanent removal from ministry or the priesthood of any cleric proven to have raped or sexually assaulted children or vulnerable adults.
- Earlier this year, the Dicastery for Legislative texts instructed bishops to avoid publishing news that could damage the reputation of priests accused of rape and sexual assault, emphasizing the potential to harm their “good reputation” and privacy, even in cases where the church possesses ample evidence of sex crimes and their concealment from the public.
- In response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) of England and Wales, the English and Welsh bishops wrote to the Vatican in 2021 requesting a removal of language in canon law defining the rape and sexual assault of children as a violation of the Sixth Commandment (“Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”). The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts refused to remove this language, continuing to define child victims of rape and sexual abuse as co-conspirators in adultery.
The pope’s appointment of Iannone to one of the Vatican’s most powerful dicasteries underscores why survivors cannot rely on Pope Leo to reform the Vatican. Civil governments and the international community must act to hold the Holy See accountable for the grave human rights violations identified by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee against Torture. Without external accountability, under Pope Leo’s leadership, the Vatican will continue to shield predators, deny justice to survivors, and endanger future generations.